Reactivation of telomerase is a feature in many cancer cells. Telomerase activation inhibits
telomere shortening, thereby preventing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis activated by
shortened telomeres or chromosomal rearrangements. The tumor-suppressor gene product,
p53, was previously shown to transcriptionally suppress the activation of the catalytic subunit
of telomerase (hTERT). Here we have evaluated the role of p73 in hTERT regulation. We
found that ectoptic expression of p73β, in contrast to p73α or p53, in p53 null H1299 cells …